The Cracking Sound
by Yuhi-san
Summary: Mikey had a weird nightmare and seeks comfort by one of his brothers. And Raphael didn't think it would be him. He may not be the best choice and Mikey should know that. Dealing with peoples feeling isn't exactly his strong point, especially not in the middle of night. But Splinter isn't too concerned about this.


**Authors note:** I know, I know, one of the turtles having a nightmare and sneaking to another's room for comfort isn't exactly new. Though Mikeys dream is a little different from the usual dream in this kind of story. Or at least his problem is.  
However, it's not as fluffy as you probably imagine it, since Raph is the one Mikey goes to.

**Disclaimer:** I Guess the Characters belong to Nickelodeon now, huh?

**Brief remark:** English is _not_ my native language. So if you see anything that's wrong, just tell me.

* * *

It was in the middle of night. Or at least in the middle of bedtime, that's it. Since day and night didn't really matter down here.  
Everyone in the lair was asleep, except for one certain turtle. He sneaked out of his room and across the living area towards another room, as quiet as he could so he wouldn't wake up his family. They had separated rooms since quite a while now. He was actually used to and happy about it. Having his very own space was awesome, especially when being four brothers who usually had to share everything.  
But there still were nights like this one from time to time.  
The young turtle tiptoed around the furniture, steps and everything else lying around in the living room.  
He finally reached his destination and opened the door very, very slow and uncertain. Carefully he peeked inside and tried to recognize his brother silhouette on the bed.  
Involuntary he pressed his lips together and hesitated.  
Should he really wake him up? He probably would be mad and kick him out.  
Still, Mikey tiptoed closer towards the bed.

Man, this room was one ware place.

Raphael wasn't a ninja yet. He was good and had talent. But he still had a long way to go. He wasn't aware of what happened around him in his sleep. He tried to, but he just couldn't. It was a mystery to him how Master Splinter did this. However, he had grown leery and alerted enough to notice if someone came in his room or even towards him.  
And stealth wasn't exactly Mikeys strong point.  
Raph growled quietly as his eyes fluttered open. Until his eyes were used to the dark, his brother already stood in front of his bed. Mikey just opened his mouth to say something as Raph already cut him off. "Move your ass back to your room. I don't even wanna hear it." His hot tempered brother was mostly gruff, especially when he just woke up. But right now it was the last thing Mikey needed.  
He wished Raph had a more sensitive side too. Mikey pressed his lips together before he quietly said: "Please Raph! Don't be so cruel now! I...I really can't just go back to my room and sleep. Not after... Uh..."  
Mikey had intended to sound insulted or something but only a quiet plea came from him. Nervously stretching his fingers and making a fist then, the 'youngest' turtle scold himself already.

Stupid, stupid Mikey!

"Don't be so loud..." Raph only hissed, much to Mikeys surprised. His brother hadn't even bothered to sit up or anything yet. The orange-clad turtle blinked and looked at him a little stunned, but not less nervous. He supposed Raph to snub him for sneaking in his room after having a stupid night-  
"Man, Mikey...! Grow up, would you? You're way too old to slip in one of your brother's bed just because of some stupid dream", Raph grunted tiredly, his eyes falling close again. He was so damn tired.

And Mikey was so busted.

But well, there weren't many other reasons to wake up one of his brothers on 3 o'clock in the night. But the 'older' turtle didn't understand at all. "Please, Raph...!", Mikey pleaed sheepishly. But did he really expect Raph to understand? The hothead was so careless with his actions and words, never bothered by the fact that someone could get hurt by it, mentally as well as physically. By his lacking of care and his thoughtlessness it shouldn't be a surprise that he was never hunted by such nightmares.  
"You don't get it dude!", Mikey squeaked. "It wasn't just a dream! I mean, of course I dreamed. But it was a nightmare, like, a real nightmare!' Mikey babbled quite loud again, which caused his brother to groan and snuggle deeper into the blanket. "Be more quiet, idiot...!", he hissed again.  
Raph was the only one of the four siblings who did that. Warping himself into the blanket like it was a cocoon and with no way to tell where it began or ended. Mikey on the other hand had to get up occasionally during night to search for his blanket.  
The youngest turtle tried his best to keep his voice low.  
"Really Raph...! I know it was just a stupid dream. I woke up here after all", he said quick, stretching his finger again from nervousness. Mikeys eyes ghosted around the dark room searching for something to look at while trying to explain himself. "There happened a lot of weird stuff. And it was really creepy too, you know?", Mikey explained, his voice as low as he could manage at the moment.  
"There were walking triceratops trying to eat us, well, me. And Leo was fighting a murderous white rabbit with swords that was yelling 'Chet' all the time and then one of these brainy things came out of it and tried to attach itself to Leo. So I run to him and he said we have to find Don. So we ran and then we fell somehow to the underground. Not the sewer. I mean, I would have loved to be there, but we weren't, because it was a cave and there was lava everywhere. And Don was screaming and Leo and me were running to him but he already run to us with monsters following him! And they were totally mad. One did bit his way through a wall and the other one spat corrosive green stuff!" Mikey got faster and louder as he Kept telling his brother about his dream. He couldn't quite help it, but he was aware that he gout louder. So he at least tried to keep his volume and speed down that Raph could follow it and wouldn't hiss at him again.

"Then there was a giant croc and I was afraid of it but I just followed it for some reason", he continued, still stretching his fingers again and again. "Don and Leo did too. So we came to a creepy city with a lot of weird crystals and ooze flowing out of them. I was totally scared and clinging close to Leo but then Don asked where you were and Leo said you're fine and we would go and pick you up because we were in New York now and when we heard shoots we run again and then we heard the Kraangs but when we got to you you weren't fighting the Kraangs." Mike kept talking without interruption and partially in tapeworm sentence, which probably would already hurt Donatello physically. But the young turtle didn't even pay attention anymore if his brother still was listening. Not to mention if he had any idea what the hell his little brother was babbling about right now. Mikey was getting all worked up about the dream again.  
"You fought some punks but I couldn't see their faces because they all had ugly dragoon tattoos over it. Leo and Don run to you but I couldn't because there was an invisible wall. And then I saw Spider Baits and Sneak Weed on the roof. That… that was when it got bad... really… bad I mean…" at this point of his narrating, Mikey slowed down rapidly, almost trailing of. He blinked a few times, still not paying attention to what his older brother was doing.

Focus, Mikey, he told himself.

"Spider Bait jumped down. He… he was attacking Don. But Donnie didn't see him… a-and he didn't hear me too. So Spider Bait ju-just landed… on him. I-I heard it… crack", the young turtle muttered.  
Was his voice shaking?  
He heard Raph move, but it was too dark and Mikey was too distracted to find out what he was doing. "L-leo turned around but he shouldn't have…", again Mikey had to force himself to continue and not trail off. "Snake Weed grabbed him with a creep and lifted him up. He… he struggled b-but then i-it cracked again." Now the 'baby' of the family was sure it wasn't just his voice shaking. His whole body was trembling. But he also was sure that Raphael heard every word, no matter how faint his voice suddenly got. "T-then you run towards me, saying something. I think you warned me b-but… then the Punks became Kraangs again a-and they shoot at you… they actually _shoot_ you", even though it was so hard to say all this, Mikey couldn't stop himself now. "You fell an there was… b-blood everywhere. I… I think.. I started to cry after that. An' I cried a lot a-and couldn' stop… That's when I woke up…" As if things weren't already bad enough his voice was betraying Mikey now.

He heard the rustle of cloth as Raph obviously moved again and grunted something. The youngest sniffed as quiet as possible as he watched his brother. He saw enough in the dark to see that he was struggling himself free of his blanket cocoon.  
He was such a baby to almost start crying about some dream. Raph tought of him as pathetic already, wasn't that enough? He was so stupid.

"Geez Mikey…", the hothead muttered and now sat finally up. He watched his baby brother closely with his intense green eyes, tried to accustom them enough to the darkness so he could read his expression. He still was tired, sure, but he no longer felt like he was going to fall asleep right again. "I don't get the whole monster and bunny and triceratops stuff but you just said it yourself. It was just some stupid dream", Raph said then in a gruff manner, but not as mad as he probably was supposed to be at the moment. Once more, Mikey was a bit surprised but didn't feel much better.  
"Everyone's fine. Wake them up if you need to. Then go to sleep again and forget about that crap." Mikey sniffed, now barely holding back a snob. He didn't even notice tears coming up to his eyes. But he wouldn't cry.  
Raphael was so stupid! Hi didn't understand at all! If he saw his brother cry now, he would just make fun of him. He couldn't take that.

"You don't get it, jerk!", the young turtle busted out, his voice sounding very strange. "It was just a d-dream, but it could be _real_…!" He stuttered again, his voice cracking slightly. Now Mikey couldn't stop his tears from falling. He could hardly stop himself from drying his tears with his wrist. Raph would see he was crying then. He didn't want that. He didn't want his brother to joke on him now. Unfortunately he couldn't possibly miss his broken sobs. "I-I don't mean the ti-triceatops a-and the rabbit." God, he couldn't even pronounce right anymore, with the sobs and his pitiful stutter. Listen, Mikey, that-"  
"I know you th-think I'm a… a wimp buht..I'm just… s-so scared… ahnd all" The youngest turtles voice still sounded very strange and now his sobs were mixing with hiccups. It was the point where it mostly likely couldn't get worse. Mikey couldn't see his brother anymore at all, the tears were taking away the poor visibility he had here.  
"Stop talking weird stuff…", Raph started, but Mikey cut his word off. "I don't wanna he-hear t it crack", Mikey croaked out more forcefully than he had thought it would be possible for him now. "I-I don't… wanna see the blood, Raph…", he added faint, now on the brick of crying out loud. "Its… J-just I-" - "Fuck, shut up, Mikey!" Raph shouted which stopped every following word of his brother. "Uh…"  
But the hothead already regretted his harsh words, even before his little brother first whimpered and then howled and broke into cries as he warped his arms around himself.  
He couldn't understand why his brother was so cruel.

"Oh, shell, Mikey, I didn't mean…", Raph said quick with a guilty voice. But that didn't stop his brother at all. "I… I just wanted you to be quiet because you said so many stupid things. You ain't gonna hear it crack. And you won't see that much blood either." Raphael tried his best to sound convincing and comforting but that barely stopped his baby brother from continuing to cry out loud again. But he still was crying rather heavy and shaking even worse than before. Raph saw that. And briefly he wondered why Mikey didn't turn around by now and went to Master Splinter. "Look, Mikey, it's just a stupid dream, right? We wouldn't be so stupid in reality. We would watch each other and the worst that would happen is a broken arm or nose", he said again, fixing Mikey who now stared at him, uncertain, shaking, sobbing, scared and still hurt.  
Raphael was good with words. He sure as hell was. In some ways he was even better with them than Donatello. But he hated to sugarcoat things. And it appeared that he couldn't use his eloquence for explaining himself or comforting someone. "Okay, now there is something Mikey…", Raph said, now a little uncertain himself. He still sat on his bed, but now lied back and put the blanket aside. "If you promise to go back to your room before anyone wakes up, you can sleep here", the hotheaded turtle muttered almost a little embarrassed about giving in and acting nice. But Mikey was all in tears and he, the idiot he was, made it even worse, instate of helping him.  
First, nothing happened and Raph glanced at the ceiling because he somehow didn't felt like he could look at his baby brother right now. Then he heard him coming closer, still sobbing hard. Mikey crawled into his bed, snuggling close to him. Raph couldn't help but feel a bit odd in an embarrassed way as he put the blanket over Mikey, while warping an arm around his shell as well. "Uh…" unsure what to do now, Raph choose to shut his trap instate of saying something wrong. He just kept his brother in a firm half-embrace until he stopped crying and only the hiccup was left. There was a short silence before he heard Mikeys faith voice. "Raph…? Do you promise it? That I won't ever have to hear it crack in battle?", he mumbled. He probably was already half sleeping judging by how he sounded and the fact his eyes were closed. "No", Raph muttered back before he could hold himself. "You're going to hear a lot of things cracks in the future. Like robot heads or doors we're going to break."  
A slight smile sneaked onto Raphs face as he heard a faith chuckle.

Then sleep didn't wait longer to fall over Mikey.

* * *

Mikey was in a dulled world between sleeping and being awake. His mind couldn't form any conscious thoughts yet, but he definitely heard Leos TV show. However, he got pulled away more from his sleep, when he got aware of Donnie talking very excited to Master Splinter. Mikey groaned and nuzzled more into the blanket. He wanted to keep sleeping. But he knew, if he didn't get up, they would Raph allow to wake him up. And that was always rather brutal. Especially after Mikey raised him out of his sleep that night and then slept in his bed.

_Oh Shell!_

Immediately, the youngest Turtle was wide awake as he remembered that he was supposed to go back to his room _before _the others would be up. He totally forgot! Mikey literally jumped out of the bed only to land ungracefully and painfully on his skateboard. "Ow!", he wined, rubbing his side and looked around the messy room. That definitely was his own room. Sure, Raphs room was chaotic too, but in a different way. "Dude", Mikey breathed and pushed himself up. First he was a little puzzled but then he guessed that Raph had carried him back to his room after he had fallen asleep.  
Okay, now that was a little embarrassing, even for Mikey. On the other hand, it was kinda sweet of his brother, wasn't it?

"Yo, Mikey, what was that noise?" As Mikey looked up, he saw Don standing at the door and giving him a glace mixed with curiosity and skepticism. "Uh, just fell off the bed. Is breakfast ready?", the younger asked with a grin, jumping to his feet. "I wanna eat Pizza. That would be awesome", he babbled in his usual bright mood and walked past his brother. Donatello looked rather confused, but then rolled his eyes and followed Mikey to join the others in the kitchen again.  
Mikeys mind obviously had more blank spots than a Dalmatian had black ones.

* * *

Raph in his room was waking up from the noise he heard in the kitchen. Even though he wasn't a slugabed he never was the first one to get up. He usually awoke as soon as he heard someone in the living room and then he got up. Raph sighed since he wasn't really willing to get up this time. He was tired, and that sure was Mikeys fault since he woke him up in the middle of his precious sleep.

_Oh Shell!_

Raphs eyes flew open immediately, just to see that he was alone in his room. He groaned. Of course he was. He would have felt it when Mikey still had slept next to him. Slowly sitting up and rubbing his eyes Raph signed again. It was a surprise, a pleasant one, but nevertheless a surprise that Mikey had gone to his bed again on his own. That saved Raph from both possible kinds of embarrassment.  
In fact, the hothead had planned to stay awake until Mikey was fast asleep and carry him back to his room (first he thought of waking him up later, but he was really sorry for his harsh words before, so he let Mikey sleep).  
Tough he had been afraid that Mikey would make embarrassing comments about that later. But he didn't trust his brother enough to think he would go up on his own again. And he did not want Leo or Don to make fun of him for letting Mikey sleep in his bed. Oh, the embarrassment would have killed him.  
But damn! Raph had fallen asleep too and didn't wake up to bring Mikey back to his bed. Luckily, his brother dragged his shell back on his own.

Hah! So he didn't even had to play nice and soft, Raph thought.

The young turtle glanced at the terrarium in his room, where he kept his beloved pet Spike. Raph smiled as he saw that the non-mutated turtle was still inside his shell. Ah, he had to get up and change the water.

In the kitchen, Raph only grumbled a 'morning' as he joined his perky family at the table. He was greeted cheerfully but obviously all three of his brothers were busy with some kind of debate with Splinter. Raphael didn't really care what it was about. He was so damn tired. Although, this didn't stop him from glancing at his youngest brother. Mikey was all happy-go-luck, just like always. And he didn't look or act like ha had a bad night or anything. He was absolutely normal, babbling nonsense and being silly. Usually, Raph would have been annoyed with that so early in the morning. But after last night he found himself only wonder if he had dreamed or imagined the whole episode with an all distraught and crying Mikey in his room.  
The hotheaded Turtle snapped out of his thoughts as Mikey looked at him, smiling wide. Even more so than usually. Raph quickly focused on his breakfast, worms and algae, just to avoid his brother. Oh, Mikey should just shut up and never talk to him about it or Raph would throttle him. It was seriously embarrassing. Even though he knew he shouldn't be the one embarrassed. After all it had been Mikey to crawl into his elder brother's bed, not him.  
Again Raphael was distracted from his train of thoughts, this time by Leo elbowing him slightly. Raph glared at him from the corner of his eyes.  
"Did you hear me?", his only elder brother asked him while titling his head. "No. What?", he said grouch. Leo rolled his eyes. "April said she's going to pass by at the evening. She'll bring stuff so we can make our own pizza down here", Leo told him happily. Now also the red-clad turtle grinned. It sounded like a cool idea, even if he didn't want to imagine the kitchen after it. "But we let Mikey put his pizza in as the last one, okay?", Raph suggested, aware of his brothers lack of common sense. Leo didn't hesitate to nod in agreement. "And I guess we have keep an eye on Donnie too." Raph shot Leo a why-the-heck-should-I-look, before he turned his head to watch Donatello, who now was daydreaming and stopped his chopsticks halfway.

Meanwhile, Splinter was silently and watching this fairly normal breakfast with his fairly unusual family. His study gaze however stopped on his most feisty son. He was already on the brink of arguing with Leonardo again. Despite being very strong and quite clever, Raphael had grown to an extremely difficult boy over the last years. Splinter sighed mentally. Raphael was impulsive and Splinter neither waited nor hoped that this would change. It came from him being so emotional and with that, it was a part of who he was. He hoped only that it would mellow a bit when Raphael grew older. Unfortunately, since the boys hit their teens, Raphaels whole personality had become sort of instable and uncontrollable. But even more worrisome was this wall that his second son tried to build between him and everyone else.  
The table rocked as Raphael jumped up and raised a fist, which caused Leonardo to stare at him somewhat alarmed. "Raphael!" Splinters sharp voice stopped the young turtle immediately. "We do not stand up at the table. And you should not punch your brothers out of practice." Raphael gave his father and master a very short look, before he sat back. "Hai Sensei…"  
It would probably take some time until the wall would fall again. Maybe it wouldn't fall completely, but sooner or later, it would. But until then it was better for the domestic harmony, his nerves, Raphaels sanity and the other threes physical health if they didn't knew Raphael was still pliable enough to let Michelangelo sleep in his bed.

To be a single father of four boys really wasn't easy.

* * *

**Authors note:** Okay, it was definitely supposed to be shorter. And not so serious. Mikey wasn't supposed to tell Raph anything about his dream (but it was funny to write and without me knowing the whole thing got kinda serious).  
The whole thing about the cracking sound wasn't planed at all. But it came from the serious turn the nightmare took.

The original title was: A self-conscious brother.

And the original idea was Mikey sneaking into Raphs room after a nightmare and Raph letting him sleep in his bed without protest because he was too tired to argue. As long as Mikey would go back before morning, of course.  
The breakfast and Splinters short character study of Raph weren't planed as well.


End file.
